Roundtable Discussions – In Honor of James Oliver Horton: Addressing the “Tough Stuff” of American History and Memory

November 16, 2017 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

This two-day program honors James Oliver Horton, George Washington University professor emeritus, scholar, and public historian who had close ties to Hawai‘i as a visiting professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and for his work with community organizations. He was Benjamin Banneker Professor of American Studies and History at GWU in Washington, D.C., and historian emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He edited, authored or co-authored ten books including The Landmarks of African American History (2005) . With his wife and scholarly collaborator, Lois E. Horton, he edited Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory (2006). The Hortons were staunch advocates of public history, working closely with museums and teachers to offer new insights on slavery and African American history.

Thursday, November 16, 2017, 5:30 PM At the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, located across ‘Iolani Palace

Lois E. Horton, Emeritus Historian, George Mason University, will give a public lecture titled, If It’s so Hard, Why Talk About It? Slavery in American History and Memory. She will link the historic arguments used to justify slavery to current conflicts over Confederate memorials, the Black Lives Matter movement, mass incarceration, and economic inequality.

Partners: Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities; Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program and Department of American Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, King Kamehameha Judiciary History Center, East-West Center Arts Program, Chaminade University, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Legacy of Race Initiative.